A Canada-Israel rift is widening over UN votes and sanctions
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Israel's war with Iran has temporarily delayed a reckoning with some of its main Western allies, but seems unlikely to close what has become a yawning gap between them over its conduct in Gaza and the West Bank.
"The relationship's not in great shape," said former Canadian ambassador to Israel Jon Allen. "Frankly, it shouldn't be."
The gulf between the Canadian and Israeli governments widened further on June 12 as the Carney government took a firmer position against Israel's war in Gaza than its predecessor, voting for a UN motion similar to one that the Trudeau government had abstained on in September.
At the time, the government explained that while it supported "the creation of the Palestinian state" and the International Court of Justice's role "in upholding the international rules-based order," it could not "support a resolution where one party, the state of Israel, is held solely responsible for the conflict."
The Trudeau government also flagged concern over language that "aligns" with the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel.
Canada's reservations appear to have fallen by the wayside. While neither UN resolution directly called for boycott or divestment of Israel, the earlier one did demand targeted sanctions on individuals engaged in "settler violence" — something Canada ultimately did last week.
After initially agreeing to discuss the vote with CBC News, Global Affairs Canada rescinded approval of an interview request with Canada's permanent representative to the UN, Bob Rae.
The department did not to explain its change of posture.
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Allen said Israel's reaction to Canada's threat of sanctions in May inflamed the situation.
"Bibi [Netanyahu's] response, I thought, was despicable. It was vile," he told CBC News, as the Israeli prime minister connected a joint statement from Canada, the U.K. and France to the killing of two Israeli diplomats in D.C.
"It was using the worst of allegations to score political points."
Tensions between Israel and Canada remain high over the sanctioning of two Israeli cabinet ministers. But under the Trump administration, there's no reason Israel would worry about the U.S. applying any such pressure.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Canada, Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Norway to reverse course. The U.S. ambassador to Israel invited the sanctioned ministers, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, to the U.S. embassy in a show of support.
Ambassador Mike Huckabee said the sanctions against them were "a shocking decision," arguing "they have not conducted any criminal activity."
But the two have long histories of racist and violent rhetoric and both have previously spent time in Israeli government custody for their words and actions.
The five Western governments pointed to repeated inflammatory statements by the ministers encouraging the use of starvation and other illegal methods in Gaza, and their repeated calls for its population to be displaced and replaced with Jewish settlers, as justification for the sanctions.
The U.S. also recently warned other governments not to attend a planned summit, to be hosted by France and Saudi Arabia at the UN, that aims to revive the hope for a two-state solution — an objective long held by most of the world including the U.S. outside of the two Trump administrations.
Rubio sent a diplomatic cable threatening other countries with unspecified consequences if they took part, according to Reuters.
An official with Global Affairs Canada told CBC News that Canada decides its own foreign policy and would not be influenced by the U.S. note.
That summit has been postponed due to the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Iran. But Allen thinks it likely that Canada will ultimately attend, regardless of any pressure from Washington.
'There is no peace process'
The former diplomat said Canada could likely expect blowback from the U.S. if it were to officially recognize a Palestinian state, but argues it would probably be less serious than what he experienced in Washington when the Chrétien government opted to sit out George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq.
Allen was invited to testify on the topic at the Commons foreign affairs committee last year, where he said he saw "overwhelming" support for the idea — including by members of the Liberal caucus.
"But obviously the government is weighing its classic relationship with Israel, and its relationship with the U.S., and its relationship with the diaspora community here on that one," Allen said.
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Spain, Ireland and Norway all recognized the state of Palestine during the course of the current Gaza war, as do 144 other countries. He expects Canada would do the same "in conjunction with the U.K., France, Australia, for example."
He said the strongest argument to do so is to show Israel it doesn't have a "veto" over when Palestinian territories could become a country.
"They expand settlements, they advocate the depopulation of Gaza. And then they say, oh, you know we have to have a peace process in order to recognize a Palestinian state," Allen said.
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